Nephi and the Exodus

Nephi and the Exodus Terrence L. Szink One of the best-known sections of the Book of Mormon tells the story of the journey of Lehi and his family from Jerusalem to the new promised land in the American continent. Yet, since the small plates were intended to contain the “things of God” (1 Nephi 6:4), why was this account included on the small plates while other things that seem to be more the “things of God” (such as the “many things which [Lehi] saw in visions and in dreams”—1 Nephi 1:16) were left out? Quite probably, Nephi, the author of this section, consciously wrote his account of the wilderness journey in a way that would remind the reader of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. He did this to prove that God loved and cared for the Nephites, just as the Exodus from Egypt was proof of God’s favor for the children of Israel. Therefore, this story of the journey truly is about the things of God and does belong on the small plates. The Exodus as a Background It is important to understand that Nephi wrote this record of his family’s journey at least thirty years after they had left Jerusalem (see 2 Nephi 5:28-31). In his writing, he most likely referred to what had been put down on the larger, “historical” plates or on perishable materials. He could pick and choose information from those earlier sources and shape it any way he saw t. The result was not a day-to-day or even a year-to-year account of what had happened. Rather, it was a record that highlighted certain events and put special emphasis on “the things of God.” One of the most important “things of God” for the children of Israel was the Exodus from Egypt. That event more than any other dened them as a people. Their journey to the promised land in Canaan is recalled time and again throughout the Old Testament. Not surprisingly, then, Nephi would be reminded of the Exodus while his group made their own wilderness journey through Arabia. He was familiar with the Exodus both in story form as he might have heard it from his father and through annual Israelite rituals such as the Passover as they were acted out. He also knew about it from reading the brass plates, which included “the ve book of Moses” (1 Nephi 5:10-12). He taught his brothers from those writings “that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old” (1 Nephi 19:22-23). He might even have referred to the account of the Exodus written on the brass plates as he wrote on the small plates. With this in mind, let us examine the account of the wilderness journey of Lehi’s party and see how often it is similar to the account of the Exodus in the Bible. The Voice of Murmuring in the Wilderness The wilderness of Sinai and the wilderness of the Arabian peninsula were both harsh environments. Both the Israelites and the people of Lehi suffered hunger during their journeys, and they complained about it: [Nephi:] We did return without food to our families, and being much fatigued, because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food. And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly, because of their sufferings and afictions in the wilderness; and also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord (1 Nephi 16:19-20). [Moses:] The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: and the children of Israel said unto them, . Ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. And Moses said, . The Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord (Exodus 16:2-3, 8). In both cases the uncommon word murmur is used. In both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon, murmur is used primarily for the exoduses. Forms of the Hebrew root lwn (translated “to murmur” in the King James version) occur eighteen times in the Old Testament. All but one of them are connected with the Exodus. How is the English word murmur used in the Book of Mormon? It appears thirty-three times; of these, nineteen describe events in the Old World wilderness. Of course we do not know exactly what word Nephi used since we do not have the original text. But this peculiar term is used with unusual frequency to describe the Book of Mormon wilderness experience in the same way that it is used almost exclusively to describe a similar experience in the Old Testament. There are two possible explanations: (1) Joseph Smith consciously copied the King James version, or (2) Nephi used the wording from the brass plates (essentially like our Bible) to remind his audience of the previous Exodus, and Joseph Smith’s translation of this material was literal enough to preserve the similarity. In view of the complicated nature of the parallels between the two stories, the second explanation is far more likely. Both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon mention that this murmuring about the lack of food was directed against the Lord himself rather than against his prophet-leaders. The similarity continues in that the problem of food was solved miraculously. For Israel, manna from heaven was the solution. For the group in the Book of Mormon, the answer was no less wonderful. They were instructed by the Lord to look at the Liahona, their miraculous “compass.” When they looked, they saw written directions that led Nephi to a place where he was able to kill game. When the family saw that he had obtained food for them, “how great was their joy! And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord, and did give thanks unto him” (1 Nephi 16:32; see also verse 39). In both cases, the Lord provided for his people in a miraculous way. Reasonable Fears and Foolish Desires The tough life in the two wildernesses led to fear of death, expressed several times in both the Book of Mormon and Exodus: [Nephi:] This he spake because of stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious thing, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart (1 Nephi 2:11; see also 1 Nephi 5:2; 16:35). [Moses:] They said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? (Exodus 14:11, see also Numbers 21:5). This fear of death was perhaps justied given the circumstances. It was expressed as the statement that it would have been better to have died before they had gone into the wilderness: [Nephi:] Thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath lead us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our women have toiled, being big with child; and they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afictions (1 Nephi 17:20). [Moses:] The children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the esh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger (Exodus 16:3). All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregations said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt (Numbers 14:2). At particularly stressful moments (for example, in the Book of Mormon at the death of Ishmael or in the Bible upon hearing the spies report the risks of attacking the Canaanites in the promised land), an unwise desire was expressed to return to the place they had left: [Nephi:] The daughters of Ishmael did mourn exceedingly, because of the loss of their father, and because of their afictions in the wilderness; and they did murmur against my father, because he had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, saying: Our father is dead; yea, and we have wandered much in the wilderness, and we have suffered much afiction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger. And thus they did murmur against my father, and also against me; and they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem (1 Nephi 16:35-36). [Moses:] All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

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